


This Is Our Town

by tabbytabbytabby



Series: Laura Hale Appreciation Week 2018 [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Laura Hale, Alpha Laura Hale, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, The Hale Pack - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-16 04:02:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16077986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabbytabbytabby/pseuds/tabbytabbytabby
Summary: It's a year after the pack takes care of Monroe and the last of the hunters loyal to her. Laura takes a moment to watch her pack and reflect on what led them here.





	This Is Our Town

**Author's Note:**

> For day 1 of Laura Hale Appreciation Week: Laura didn't die

Laura looks around the back yard and can’t help but smile. It’s been a year since they took down Monroe and her string of hunters. Since then she was able to work with Lydia, Deaton, and Stiles and figure out a way to “turn off” the Nemeton. It still stands prominent in the preserve, but it’s no longer active. The only thing it serves as anymore is a reminder of all that they’ve faced. Laura doesn’t mind that. The only way they can truly move on is to face the mistakes they’ve made head on.

She hears a yell and turns her head to see Stiles scrambling up from his seat and running from the table he was sitting at with Derek, Theo, Scott, Liam, and Malia. Derek jumps up soon after and takes off chasing him around the yard. Laura knows how fast Derek is and if he was really trying he’d have caught Stiles by now. Especially with the way Stiles is stumbling as he weaves between their friends and family.

Soon Derek catches him and throws him over his shoulder with a pleased smirk. She rolls her eyes fondly when Stiles starts slapping at Derek’s back and telling him to put him down.

“What’s he done this time?” Laura calls over to Theo.

Theo grins, “He said history was boring and anyone that likes it is old and grumpy.”

Laura snorts, “Well he’s not wrong. Derek is basically a grumpy old man.”

Derek shoots her a betrayed look while Stiles cackles. He puts Stiles back on his feet before moving back to sit next to Theo. Theo lets out a low laugh as he puts an arm around Derek’s shoulders, “Don’t sulk. You know we love what a nerd you are.”

Stiles takes his spot on Derek’s other side and slips an arm around his waist before leaning in to place a kiss to Derek’s cheek. He leaves his chin resting on Derek’s shoulder, “It’s true. I was just teasing you, big guy.”

“They’ve certainly come far, haven’t they?” John asks, leaning against the table beside Laura.

Laura turns her head to smile at the Sheriff, “We all have.”

John nods his agreement, “We have. But those three especially. There was a time Stiles would have rather chopped his leg off before agreeing with Theo about everything.”

Laura grins at that. He’s not wrong. When Theo had first come back to town Stiles had instantly been distrustful of him. He’d been right, of course. They’d quickly figured that out. Laura had wanted to keep him locked up for a bit and try to reason with him. In fact, that’s what she’d done before leaving town with Derek to go visit Cora.

She’d been furious when they’d returned and found out that Kira, Scott, Liam, and Hayden had taken matters into their own hands and sent Theo to the skinwalkers. She’d brought him back but the damage had already been done.

It took months before they all finally started knitting themselves back together. Months of apologies and long talks, and more than a few arguments. But they’d all come out of it. They survived. They finally have a sense of peace now that they’ve been striving to achieve for so long.

Laura is proud of her pack. With all their differences they shouldn’t fit, but somehow they do, and they’re better because of it. They’re strong, and they care about each other. They care about this town and the people in it.

Not for the first time Laura wonders how her mother would feel about all of this. Would she be proud? Laura hopes she would be. All she’s wanted is to be someone deserving of being alpha of the Hale pack. Of carrying on the family name and having it be a name people respect and associate with good.

She knows she’s not quite there yet but she has to believe she will be, with the help of her family and her pack. She’s strong on her own, she knows she is. But one of the most important things her mother taught her was that there is strength in admitting you need help.

She’d had to remind herself of that the first few years after she became an alpha, but now she’s finally getting it. She’s earned the respect and loyalty of her pack through trust and understanding rather than fear.

“You’ve done well for yourself kid,” John tells her, nodding across the yard to where the pack have gathered around the table. “You helped get this town back some stability. Something we haven’t seen in years. I imagine all that peace was because of another strong Hale woman. Though none of us knew just how much she did for us.”

“I think she preferred it that way,” Laura says, “she just wanted the town and people to be safe and happy. As do I.”

“We are, and all you kids played a big part in that. Hell, you should all get medals for everything you’ve done for this town.”

Laura shakes her head, “That’s not why we do it. That’s not why my mom did it.”

“You know, you remind me of her sometimes,” John says. He smiles when Laura looks at him in surprise. “Yeah, I knew her. Maybe not everything about her. But enough to see how strong she was, how much the people of this town loved her. I see that same strength when I look at you. You’re more like her than you realize. She’d be proud of the woman you are.”

“Thank you,” Laura whispers, bringing a hand up to wipe at her eyes. She hadn’t realized how badly she needed to hear that from someone that actually knew her mother until now.

“Laura!” Derek calls from his spot at the table. He smiles and waves her over when he realizes he has her attention, “Come on! Get over here!”

“Go on,” John tells her. “You deserve to enjoy this day as much as everyone else does.”

“I have been,” Laura tells him. “Sometimes I just need to watch them and see for myself that they’re happy and safe.”

“And they are. Now it’s your turn to be happy.”

Laura nods and pushes off the wall before turning to the Sheriff, “If I’m going, so are you. I’m not the only one who deserves to be happy.”

“Believe me kid, I am happy,” the Sheriff tells her. He pushes off the wall and hooks his arm through hers as they make their way across the yard.

“I know you are. Don’t think any of us have missed the way you and Melissa have been making eyes at each other,” she winks.

All he does is laugh, “The same could be said for you and Lydia.”

Laura just shrugs, “Not like I’m trying to hide it.”

“What aren’t you hiding?” Lydia asks. She smiles when Laura takes the seat next to her and places a kiss to her cheek.

“Just how crazy about you I am,” Laura tells her.

“You weren’t even subtle when you were trying to hide it.”

“Maybe I wanted you to pick up on it,” Laura replies, “ever think of that?”

“If that’s what you need to tell yourself,” Lydia says.

“At least we were never as bad as those three,” Laura says, nodding her head in Derek, Stiles, and Theo’s direction.

“No one could ever be as bad as those three,” Melissa says.

“Hey!” Stiles says, “I was never that bad.”

“Stiles, you were the worst of them,” John tells him. “Mostly because you spent months in denial and trying to find different explanations rather than just accepting you’ve fallen for both of them.”

“Well, I was fine accepting Derek,” Stiles says.

“Gee thanks,” Theo responds dryly.

Stiles rolls his eyes, “Dude, I had good reason okay. You know that. But it’s not like that anymore.”

Laura looks down at Lydia when she feels her rest her head on her shoulder. She smiles and wraps an arm around Lydia’s waist to pull her closer. “You know, for a while I never thought this would be possible,” Lydia says.

“What?” Laura asks.

“All of this,” Lydia gestures around the yard. “All of us just being able to be together like this for a good reason. Just because we want to be. Not because of a threat or loss or anything bad, but because we’re safe and we can let ourselves relax.”

“Don’t worry Lydia, I’m sure something big and bad will pop up soon enough,” Stiles says.

Liam sighs, “I hope not.”

“But if it does we’ll handle it,” Derek says, smiling across the table at Laura. “Together. Like we always do.”

Laura returns the smile and lets herself relax against Lydia. She knows Derek is right. Even if the town came under attack tomorrow they’d handle it. They have each other and that makes them strong.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos/Comments make my day. ♥ Hopefully the last chapter can be up soon  
> [My tumblr](http://tabbytabbytabby.tumblr.com/)


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